"I didn't mean - " "I know what you meant."

He straightened from shoving his boxer briefs down, then knelt on the foot of the bed and crawled toward me like a sleek panther on the prowl.

"You ache without my cock inside you.

You'll say anything to have me there."

"Yes."

He hovered over me, his hair falling in a dark curtain around his face, his big body casting a shadow over mine.

Tilting his head, he lowered his mouth and lightly traced the seam of my lips with the tip of his tongue.

"You crave it.

You feel empty without it."

"Yes, damn you."

I gripped his lean hips, arching upward to try to feel his body against mine.

I never felt closer to him than when we were making love, and I needed that closeness now, needed to feel like we were okay before we spent the weekend without each other.

He settled between my legs, his erection lying hard and hot between the lips of my sex.

"It hurts you a little when I push all the way in, and there's no help for that - you have a tight little cunt and I cram you full.

Sometimes I lose control and get rough, and there's no help for that, either.

But don't ever ask me to hurt you deliberately.

I can't."

"I want you," I breathed, rubbing my wet cleft shamelessly along the heated length of his cock.

"Not yet."

He moved, rolling his hips to find me with the broad head of his penis.

He pushed gently against me, parting me, spreading me open as he slipped just the tip inside.

I writhed against the tight fit, my body resisting.

"You're not ready yet."

"Fuck me.

God .

just fuck me!" He reached down with one hand and grabbed my hip, stemming my frenzied attempts to push up and take more of him.

"You're swollen."

I fought his hold.

My nails dug into the tight curves of his ass and I tugged him against me.

I didn't care that it might hurt.

If I didn't get him in me I thought I'd lose my mind.

"Give it to me."

Gideon slid his hand into my hair, fisting it to hold me where he wanted me.

"Look at me."

"Gideon!" "Look at me."

I stilled at the command in his voice.

I stared up at him, my frustration melting as I watched a slow, gradual transformation sweep over his handsome face.

His features tightened first, as if he were pained.

A wince knit his brow.

His lips parted with a gasp, his chest beginning to heave with labored breaths.

A tic began in his jaw, the muscle spasming violently.

His skin grew hot, searing me.

But what mesmerized me most was his piercing blue eyes and the unmistakable vulnerability that sifted through them like smoke.

My pulse quickened in response to the change in him.

The mattress shifted as he dug his feet in, his body bracing  -  "Eva."

He jerked, then started coming, spurting hotly into me.

His pleasured groan vibrated against me, his cock sinking through the sudden flood of semen to bottom out inside me.

"Ah .

Christ."

All the while he looked at me, showing me his face when he usually hid in the crook of my neck.

I saw what he'd wanted me to see .

the point he'd wanted to make -  There was nothing between us.

Rolling his hips, he rubbed out the rest of his orgasm, emptying himself inside me, lubricating me so there would be no pain or resistance.

He released my hip and let me rock upward; let me seek the perfect pressure on my clit to set me off.

With his eyes still on mine, he reached behind him to claim my wrists.

One at a time, he lifted my arms over my head, restraining me.

Pinned to the mattress by his grip, his weight, and his unflagging erection, I was completely at his mercy.

He began to thrust, stroking through the trembling walls of my sex with the thickly veined length of his big cock.

Claiming me.

Possessing me.

"Crossfire," he whispered, reminding me of my safe word.

I moaned as my sex rippled in climax, tightening and squeezing, milking him greedily.

"Feel that?" Gideon's tongue traced the shell of my ear, his breath gusting in humid pants.

"You've got me by the throat and the balls.

Where's the distance, angel?" For the next three hours, there was none.

* * *

The hotel manager threw open the double doors to our suite and Cary gave a long, low whistle.

"Hell yeah," he said, hustling me into the room with a hand on my elbow.

"Look at the size of this place.

You could do cartwheels in here."

He was right, but I'd have to wait until the morning to prove it.

My legs were still shaky from my induction into the Mile-High Club.

Directly in front of us was a dazzling view of the Vegas Strip at night.

The windows were floor to ceiling, wrapping around a corner that was filled with a piano.

"Why are there always pianos in high-roller suites?" Cary asked, flipping up the cover and tapping out a quick tune on the keys.

I shrugged and looked toward the manager, but she'd already moved off, her stilettos moving silently over the thick white carpet.

The suite was decorated in what I'd call fifties Hollywood chic.

The double-sided fireplace was faced with rough gray stone and decorated with a piece of art that resembled a hubcap with spacey spokes protruding from the center.

The sofas were seafoam green with wooden legs as slender as the manager's heels.

Everything had a retro vibe that was at once glamorous and inviting.

It was way too much.

I'd expected a nice room, but not the presidential suite.

I was about to refuse it when Cary gifted me with a big grin and two thumbs up.

Having no willpower to refuse his joy, I gave in and hoped we weren't putting Gideon out of a more profitable reservation.

"Still want a cheeseburger?" I asked him, reaching for the room service menu on the console table behind the sofa.

"And a beer.

Make that two."

Cary followed the manager into a bedroom on the left side of the living area, and I picked up the vintage rotary phone to place our order.

Thirty minutes later, I was fresh from a quick shower and dressed in my pajamas, eating chicken Alfredo cross- legged on the area rug.

Cary was plowing through his burger and looking at me with happy eyes from his position on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"You never eat a massive pile of carbs this late," he noted between bites.

"My period's coming."

"I'm sure the workout you got on the way here helped, too."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"How would you know? You were passed out."

"Deductive reasoning, baby girl.

When I went to sleep, you looked irritated.

When I woke up, you looked like you'd just smoked a fat joint."

"How did Gideon look?" "He looked the same - tight-assed and hot as hell."

I stabbed my fork into my noodles.

"That's not fair."

"Who cares?" He gestured around us.

"Look how he puts you up."

"I don't need a sugar daddy, Cary."

He munched on a French fry.

"Have you thought any more about what you do need? You've got his time, his rockin' bod, and access to everything he owns.

That's not bad."

"No," I agreed, twirling my fork.

I knew from my mom's many marriages to powerful men that getting their time was the most important thing of all, because for them, it was truly the most valuable thing in their lives.

"It's not bad.

It's just not enough."

* * *

"This is the life," Cary pronounced, while lying like a god on a lounger by the pool.

He wore pale green trunks and dark shades and caused an unusually large volume of women to walk on our side of the pool.

"The only thing missing is a mojito.

Gotta have alcohol to celebrate."

My mouth curved.

I was sunbathing on the lounger beside him, enjoying the dry heat and occasional splashes of water.

Celebrating was habitual for Cary, something I'd always considered quite charming.

"What are we celebrating?" "Summer."

"Okay, then."

I sat up and slid my legs off the lounger, tying my sarong around my hips before I stood.

My hair was still damp from an earlier dip in the pool and pinned atop my head with a lobster clip.

The scorching sun felt good on my skin, a sensual kiss that was nearly enough to make me less self-conscious about the water I was retaining - thanks to my period starting.

I headed over to the pool bar, my gaze raking the other loungers and cabanas through the purple tint of my sunglasses.

The area was packed with guests, many of whom were attractive enough to warrant second and third looks.

One couple in particular caught my eye, because they reminded me of myself and Gideon.

The blonde lay on her stomach, her torso propped up on her arms and her legs kicking playfully.

Her very yummy dark-haired man stretched out on the chair beside her, his head propped on one hand while the fingers of the other hand stroked up and down her spine.

She caught me staring and her smile instantly faded.

I couldn't see her eyes behind her Jackie O shades, but I knew she was glaring at me.

With a smile, I looked away, knowing just how she felt about finding another woman checking out her man.

I found an empty space at the bar and gestured at the bartender to let him know I was ready to order when he was.

Misters attached to the ceiling cooled my skin and lured me to slide onto a suddenly vacated bar stool while I waited.

"What are you drinking?" Turning my head, I looked at the man who'd talked to me.

"Nothing yet, but I'm considering a mojito."

"Let me buy you one."